


Wings

by forget_me_nots



Series: Flight Rising AU [2]
Category: Flight Rising, 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Bsd rarepair week 2020, Dragons, M/M, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forget_me_nots/pseuds/forget_me_nots
Summary: On a mission to the Shifting Expanse, Kunikida and Dazai bond a little bit. (Flight Rising AU)
Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs)
Series: Flight Rising AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913029
Kudos: 16
Collections: BSD Rarepair Week 2020





	Wings

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The detectives of the Sunbeam Ruins](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20981141) by [forget_me_nots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/forget_me_nots/pseuds/forget_me_nots). 



> Set in the same AU as the Detectives of the Sunbeam Ruins. I'm sorry, I just have dragons on the mind, so this is just... more dragons. It shouldn't be necessary to know about Flight Rising lore but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> some of my own worldbuilding that is mildly important to know:  
> -they're dragons, and they have two forms, their "true" dragon form, which is referred to as Fours, and a human-sized anthropomorphic form referred to as Twos  
> -in Twos its seen as polite/proper to cover your wings

When told that they would have to be flying over to the Shifting Expanse for an investigation, Dazai had smiled in the way that Kunikida had become very familiar with. It wasn’t a real smile, it was the kind of smile that he wore that meant something was bothering him. Kunikida would have to puzzle his way through what was causing Dazai issue on his own, like usual. It ranged between the skydancer being just slightly uncomfortable to having been straight-up _stabbed._

Although in this particular instance, Kunikida was sure it had something to do with whatever Dazai was hiding under his bandages. Changing to fours would reveal whatever he was doing his best to keep hidden.

“If you’d prefer, I could carry you. You wouldn’t have to fly,” Kunikida said, and Dazai’s smile brightened into something a bit more real. Shock, but also gratitude. There was still a hint of some guarded hurt, wrapped up under a smiling mask, but most of his expression was genuine this time.

“Kunikida! How kind of you to offer! I’ll be sure to hold on to whatever papers and files we need and I will-” Dazai continued to ramble on about how well behaved he would be. Despite the false cheer and teasing tone to his words, Kunikida felt a small thrill of warmth that Dazai was pleased with the offer. It was so difficult to deal with him sometimes, never saying what he meant and constantly deflecting and circling around the truth.

But after years, Kunikida had gotten very good at reading Dazai’s true intentions. Dazai was relieved, somehow, not to have to fly himself. And he _was_ well-behaved, packing up files and notebooks into a bag, as well as a few changes of clothes. They’d be in the lightning lands for a week.

Before Kunikida changed, he held out his Ideal, fixing Dazai with a pinning glare. 

“Can I trust you with this?” he asked, and Dazai’s visible feathers suddenly all flattened against his body in shock. It made him look small, and Kunikida was struck with the fact that he would soon be _carrying_ Dazai, small, fragile, Dazai, who would most likely _die_ if he fell, or if Kunikida fell…

Dazai reached out to grab Kunikida’s Ideal before Kunikida’s thoughts could spiral further. He carefully tucked the Ideal into the bag, securing it between a file folder and a book, before buckling the bag shut again.

“I won’t take it out until we land,” he said. 

“Thank you. Now, could you please turn around?”

Dazai’s feathers fluffed out again, and a cheeky smile spread across his face.

“Aw, I thought Kunikida was going to let me watch him change!”

“ _Dazai!_ ”

“Ok, ok, turning around!” 

Sighing, Kunikida also turned his back on Dazai, and quickly removed his clothes to shift. Taking fours always felt particularly freeing, and he spread his wings, stretching the cramped muscles, and shaking his fins out. 

“Wow. You’re going to have to crouch down, I can’t climb up your legs, Mr. Tree.” 

Kunikida peered down at Dazai. He looked even smaller, like this, and Kunikida was suddenly struck with the urge to scoop him up in his paws and curl up around him, but he was too terrified of accidentally crushing Dazai to do that. So he just lowered his chest to the ground so that Dazai could scramble up his shoulder to settle between his wings. 

“Hold on,” Kunikida said, standing up and spreading his wings.

“Ooh I can feel it when you speak,” Dazai chirped. “It’s quite the unique sensation.”

Usually Kunikida would just jump straight up and beat his wings until he managed to achieve flight, it took up the least space for a dragon of his size, but it was a method of liftoff that would almost certainly knock Dazai off of his back. Instead, he made his way out to the street, and, with a running start, took off at a much shallower angle. It was probably still bumpy and uncomfortable for Dazai, but Kunikida could still feel him clinging to his back like a stubborn, bandaged tick. 

“Alright back there?”

The wind whisked away whatever answer Dazai had, but the continued sensation on his back was good enough proof that Dazai was safe. Kunikida did his best to stay level, and to glide as often as he could. The sun shone down, and felt deliciously warm against his scales. It had been a good long time since he’d sunned himself, and even longer since he’d had a proper flight to stretch his wings. The grasslands rolled by below him, going from greenish and lush to a dry golden, before finally, as the sun began to set, giving way to pale sand. The sun slipped below dark, roiling clouds which obscured the mesas looming in the distance. 

Some time over the course of the flight, Dazai had climbed up Kunikida’s neck, and now clung to one of his horns.

“We’re looking for a canyon,” he instructed. “The clan’s built their city into it’s walls.”

It was rather distracting to hear Dazai’s voice practically speaking directly into his ear, but there was no way Kunikida would have been able to hear him any other way. 

“I’m well aware of the location of the clan we’re looking for.” 

“Just trying to do my part since you’re the one doing all the hard work flying!” 

Then the storm broke, thunder booming like a continuous bass drum roll. Dazai’s tail tapped nervously against Kunikida’s cheek fin, the feathers tickling slightly. Did he not like the storm? It was hard to tell without seeing his expression. Thankfully, Kunikida spotted a bright blue and white coatl. It flew right up to him, falling in beside him and waving one stubby paw before pointing down at a ridge roughly a mile or so away. Kunikida followed it, landing as gently as he could, even with Dazai presumably having a better grip around his horns than he did clinging to his back. The coatl ushered him into a carved-out room set into a canyon wall, closing the door behind them.

“I’m Vertigo. You must be the detectives we hired.” The coatl had a low, humming voice that was rather pleasant, and he wore a scarf, even as he remained in fours. 

Kunikida almost nodded, before remembering Dazai was currently perched on his head. 

“Yes, that’s us.”

“We’ve arranged rooms for your stay, thank you so much for coming.”

As he was shown to the rooms, Kunikida realized that this clan was a far more old-styled one: almost all of the dragons remained in fours, the sheer size of the halls and rooms made this incredibly evident. The scale of the architecture was clearly intended for full sized dragons. 

“I suppose I’ll be spending more time riding around on your back, then!” Dazai said, clearly making the same observation.

“You lazy pile of feathers, you can walk perfectly fine on your own,” Kunikida growled.

“I didn’t pack nearly enough bandages to do that,” Dazai said, his tail tapping against Kunikida’s fin again. 

Kunikida bit back his next retort. 

“Well, I’m not going to carry you around the whole time.”

Kunikida had never spent so much time in fours since he was a hatchling. The only time he felt uncomfortable were when meeting with some of the higher ranking members of the lightning clan. He felt underdressed, even when lent some rather ridiculous raiments that the coatl Vertigo had insisted were befitting of a light flight ambassador. Dazai had teased him mercilessly over the fact that he kept tripping over the enormously trailing sleeves. How they’d managed to tailor garments for a dragon in fours was shocking to him. Not to mention that, given the choice, Kunikida would have never willingly donned something so over the top and fancy, yards and yards and yards of black and gold silk.

“It does match your scales nicely! You should see if they make outfits like this for when you’re back in twos! I’m going to miss it!” Dazai said, when Kunikida struggled removing the garment for the last time. He’d been saying stuff like that all week, however, so Kunikida just ignored it. He was not going to miss the stupid thing at all. 

“I certainly hope they don’t make it for twos. It wouldn’t even cover my wings properly.”

“How scandalous.”

“Are you ready to go?”

Dazai poked at the folded pile of discarded silk. There was so much of it, it was hardly in any danger of being blown away by the rather sudden wind that had started up. 

“Not quite. Do you mind?”

Kunikida tipped his head.

“Mind what?”

Dazai made a little twirling motion with his finger. 

“You didn’t let _me_ watch you change so I’m hardly inclined to give you the pleasure.”

Kunikida’s mouth fell open in shock, but he quickly snapped it shut and turned around. 

“Will you be able to keep up?”

“Kunikida. I’m a _skydancer._ I’m made to fly.”

“It’s evening though. Would you rather we wait until the morning? Will you be able to see properly?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? I’ve never seen you take fours, what if you can’t-”

“Kunikida.”

He swallowed nervously and shuffled his wings. He was being too much again, but he couldn’t help but worry. Dazai was far from _his_ charge, but there was still some degree of protectiveness that Kunikida felt towards Dazai.

“Alright. I’m ready.”

Kunikida spread his wings and heard Dazai squawk.

“Watch it! You nearly hit me!”

“Then don’t stand so-”

It was strange. There was something _strange_ about the feathers that grew on Dazai’s chest and arms. There was a patchiness to them, and many of the feathers were still encased in the thin sheath of keratin which indicated they had just grown in. Kunikida realized, also, that there was no _down_ under the dark brown feathers, and in places he could see pale flashes of Dazai’s skin. Dazai shuffled his own wings indignantly, shielding his thin feathers from view. The feathers on his wings were… not much better. 

“We’re going to be late if you dawdle any longer, Kunikida.”

“Right.”

Dazai was fast and agile, often flying in loops around Kunikida. Clearly, he didn’t often get a chance to stretch his wings. When he finally seemed to wear out his energy, he settled to gliding just above Kunikida’s right shoulder and wing. On the rare occasion that he did flap his wings, the tips of them brushed against Kunikida’s back and neck, making him shiver. 

“So. You might as well ask that burning question of yours,” Dazai said finally.

“You pull out your feathers, don’t you?” Kunikida asked. “And that's why you never want to take fours.”

Dazai was silent for a few moments. Perhaps that wasn’t the question he had been expecting, after all.

“Yes. I… that is part of it.”

“You have nice wings,” Kunikida blurted, and then instantly wished he hadn’t, as he felt the air stir as Dazai faltered in mid flight.

“You really think so?”

“Well, of course, your feathers could use a bit more care because you always keep them bound up under your shirt, but they seem strong, and you’re a good flier-”

“You have nice wings as well, Kunikida. And you would look _very_ nice in that ambassador’s robe if they made it in a proper size for twos.”

It was Kunikida’s turn to falter, as it felt like his heart had fallen all the way to the ground in shock. He really shouldn’t have been that surprised, Dazai was an incorrigible flirt. It felt genuine this time, however.

“I suppose if you’d really like to make sure I maintain my wings, we could go flying again some time?”

“I’ll have to check my schedule,” Kunikida said, and Dazai laughed.


End file.
